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Morcades
Morcades is the wife of King Loth and the mother of Gawain, often known by different names in different stories. For example, Anna in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae and subsequent chronicles, Sangive in Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Parzival, Gwyar in medieval Welsh texts, and Morgawse in Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur. Early romances relate how Morcades became the mother of Gawain through a clandestine relationship with Loth. Chrétien de Troyes' Peceval, and some related romances tell how she lived hidden away in a castle with her mother Ygerne and at least one daughter until her son Gawain achieved the adventure of the castle. The Prose Lancelot introduces the idea that she was mother of Mordred, not by her husband King Loth, but by her brother King Arthur. The later Post-Vulgate tales relate that, after the death of her husband, King Loth, she became the lover of a knight named Lamorat, and was in bed with him when she was slain by her son Gaheriet. Varying Names Anna is her name in Latin texts, and in sources coming from them. That name and the associated accounts which use it are discussed separately under Anna. Orcades is the common Latin name for the Orkney Islands, and it might be that a reference to Gawain’s mother as the Queen of Orkney was misunderstood to mean “Queen Orkney”. In which case the initial “M” may have been added from some confusion with Morgain, who since she is also considered to be Arthur’s sister, would also be the sister of Morcades. But this is only guess work. Morcades might also be a form of an entirely different name, that somewhat resembled Orcades, the Latin name of Orkney, and may have been made to be more like it. The name Mprcades is used in the Enfances Gawain and in some manuscripts of the first continuation to Chrétien de Troyes’ Perceval. Heinrich von dem Türlin just calls her Orcades in his Diu Krône. Morgause, in Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur. looks like what might have happened to Morcades in oral tradition as it also passed from French to English. Wofram von Eschenbach names her Sangive in his Parzival. Many of Wolfram’s names are slightly corrupted forms of French names or words, and if this was the case here, then the initial syllable might well be French sangue, meaning ‘blood’, which is also the meaning of her Welsh name Gwyar. Gawain’s mother is unnamed in the Story of Merlin and in the late prose cycle romances, simply being called “King Loth’s wife” or the “Queen of Orcanie”. The English form Belisent is unique to the work Arthour and Merlin, and might be suggested from the name of her sister Hermesent in this work, who in the French source was named Brimesent, perhaps also influenced by the name of another sister, Blasine. The name Elena in the Spanish El baladro del sabio Merlin may be just a random choice by the author. Some Name Variations FRENCH: Morcades, Norcadet, Anna, Enna, Emine; LATIN: Anna, Cristina; ENGLISH: Belisent; MALORY: Morgause, Morgawse, Margawse; GERMAN: Orcades, Sangive; SPANISH: Elena; WELSH: Gwyar. Category:Characters Category:Female